NHS units impose surgery ban on obese and smokers

The pressure’s on: obese patients are being required to wait two years before being referred for hip or knee surgery

ALAMY

Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor

Sunday July 23 2017, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

The NHS has introduced “unprecedented” bans on surgery including an end to the routine funding of hip and knee operations for patients with osteoarthritis.

In one area of England obese patients must wait two years for hip and knee replacements while another area plans to deny surgery for smokers, including heart and brain operations.

The Royal College of Surgeons, which uncovered the restrictions, says they are “illogical and prejudicial”. Professor Derek Alderson, its president, said: “Hip and knee replacements are two of the most cost-effective interventions known. They markedly improve quality of life. Patients can return to work and often have no need to take powerful anti-inflammatory drugs.”

The NHS in East Berkshire now requires patients with osteoarthritis to make a special application through their